AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was just millimeters away from hitting a bulldozer during the Japan Grand Prix.
– I could have died, shouts the Frenchman.
It was very reminiscent of the scandal that rocked Formula One when Jules Bianchi died after colliding with a tractor in Japan in 2014.
The Japanese Grand Prix started in rainy weather and after Carlos Sainz got his water ski, he drove Pierre Gasly in the bulletin board. He took her to the pit and changed his front wing. As he headed to the track again to join the field, he suddenly ran into a tractor.
There were only a few meters between Gasly, who came at high speed, and the large tractor, which was barely visible on the left side of the track.
The Frenchman was completely insane.
– Oh my God, where is this? A tractor on the track, this is absolutely unacceptable. I can’t believe this, he yells on the radio.
Pierre Gasly’s reaction was strong, but completely normal. In 2014, the Japanese GP had a terrible accident.
Suffered from aquaplaning
It rained while Adrian Sutil was watering down, and a wheeled bulldozer was sent into the pit area to remove the car while the race continued behind the safety car.
However, Jules Bianchi of Marussia drove very fast and set off in the same spot as Sutil.
Bianchi lost control of the car and hit the bulldozer. The collision was so severe and Bianchi was so badly injured that he died in the summer of 2015.
This time, too, the visibility was very poor.
– You can’t see anything, I’ve never had such a bad vision before. Jsg saw nothing. Alexander Albon says: I have never seen Carlos or the tractor
It was fortunate that no one was driving Carlos and no one could see the tractor either. It does not work.
Even Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz agrees:
– I don’t understand why we would risk sending a tractor to the track in these weather conditions. It is not necessary at all. If you were to red flag the race anyway. Why Should You Risk?, The Wonders of Sainz to Sky.
Race management will look into the incident after the race and Pierre Gasly has been summoned to race management because they suspect he has “driving too fast under a red flag”.
– When recovery was needed on the track during the third lap, the Safety Car was on the track. Car No. 10 was in the pits and was going fast to catch the field, but as conditions deteriorated, the race was halted, the FIA wrote in a statement.
– Only then car No. 10 (Gazley) passed by the tractor.